Is the aluminum foil wrap trick a good idea for joints or am I overthinking this.

I have never tried using a sharpened tungsten. I Tig welded aluminum for 20 years at work and liked my tungsten about even with the end of the cup. Every weld I made was looked at by 3 different inspectors. If one of them did not like it I got it back.

For alum I put the machine on reverse DC and with a
brass cup under the tip held vertical give the pedal
a hit and that gives you a perfect round ball so the
power runs around in a circle which heats both parts..
works very good (of course you have to go back to AC)..
I learned that from my aircraft stuff.. and I showed it
to one of the welding instructors and thats what he teaches
now

Your over thinking it

My purple stripe E3 tungstens are super easy to start, but I am noticing that they wear pretty quick. Is it my technique/inexperience or would I be better off getting used to red stripes?

just purchase some of those today from Airgas along with some argon,seems that's the only brand they had. Haven't had chance to use them yet. Tried my hand at some molly scrap tubing, my biggest problem is consistent. Do you all like the foot control or the thumb control when weld on the bench? ...................

Racerx; let me know what you think. I'm going to make a run for a refill on my Argon before I start the cage. If I need different tungstens, I'll get them too.

Seems like I have my bad days and my good days. Welded up the right rocker rail and brackets Saturday. Kept melting down the tip all day. I thought it was the hardware I bought from Lowes causing issues. Sunday I welded up the whole left side assembly, and never once had to sharpen the tip. Go figure.

Converted my welder back for Mig to weld the mild steel brackets to the rocker sills. Practiced for a while, trying to get a baseline again. Used an old piece of roll bar tubing. Couldn't get the right heat (too cold, no penetration), splattering all over the place. Changed nozzles, and found the new tip I put on was bent, causing binding in the feed wire. Better, but still having issues. Seems like I can't get a decent puddle or feed the wire properly. Tried on some 3/32" plate, just some practice beads. Didn't even like the way they looked. Welder is designed to handle 3/8" plate. Triple checked my ground. Does spool wire have a shelf life? This spool has been on my machine for a while.

No spool life for the mig wire as long as it doesnt
get wet and rust... we all have good and bad days

I've used some cheapy Chinese wire that was horrible. Wouldn't run regardless what you did. Some welding stores even sell this trash.

Is your Mig polarity correct?

Yes. Welder is even marked "Ages 3 and up".
Seriosly, the Mig side only hooks up one way. (Pretty sure, anyway) But I will double check tomorrow. Thanks for the advice. I'm also thinking that I have never changed the liner, migh be due for replacement.

OMG!!! What an idiot!!! I can't believe I did that. Polarity was reversed for Tig setup. I never put it back for Mig. I didn't even know that would work. Gas ports drilled on both + and - terminals. Thanks JCC.

I only speak from making the same oversight.

Boy don`t we all have a handful of them.............

Same here.. when I want to set up my tig electrode
for alum I ball it using DC reverse (I do a few tips
usually after I'm done with the job just to be set up
for the next job) and I have forgot to flip over.. mine
is just flipping a lever

I guess that explains why the tip was glowing but I couldn't heat up the steel. On to bigger and better.

Now you know how it acts... and you will remember..
thats how you figure out stuff.. by messing up

thats how you figure out stuff.. by messing up

Boy, I sure have figured out a lot of stuff in my life

the older i get, the dumber i find i really am....... and, my old man wasn't as dumb as i thought he was.

Had to go and check. Didn't get a chance last night. Everything back to normal.